UWA Mission

The University of West Alabama is a state-supported, coeducational institution of higher learning governed by a Board of Trustees appointed by the Governor. As a regional institution, the University's foremost commitment is to meeting the educational needs of the State and particularly of the West Alabama area. Valuing a diverse student population, it also welcomes students from throughout the United States and from other countries.

The primary purpose of the University is to provide opportunities for students to pursue associate, baccalaureate, and master's degrees in liberal arts, natural sciences and mathematics, pre-professional programs, nursing, technology, business, and education. Additionally, the University will assist its students in developing the important qualities of independent thinking and respect for the ideas of others and in building firm foundations of personal integrity and character in order to realize their quests for a philosophy of life and for self-fulfillment. Importance is placed on providing opportunities within the curricula for the development of enhanced skills in critical thinking, communication, leadership, and computer literacy.

The University also seeks to provide students opportunities for growth beyond the classroom through a wide range of extracurricular activities, programs, and services and through the maintenance of an environment of cultural and intellectual diversity and through the encouragement of the free exchange of ideas among faculty, administration, and students.

At the University of West Alabama, the emphasis is upon the traditional learner, but the institution is also committed to the concept of lifelong learning and to serving non-traditional students. These include workers in area schools, businesses and industries, governmental agencies, and professional workers. In serving these diverse publics, the institution employs not only traditional means of delivery, but it also seeks to expand its use of innovative technologies, including distance learning, and to networking with other educational institutions and agencies in order to more comprehensively address the needs of its region.

The University seeks to employ a vibrant, talented, and diverse faculty whose members are committed to providing leadership and fostering positive growth throughout West Alabama through research and public service, with primary emphasis on that which meets the educational, social, cultural, and economic needs of the region. In the recruitment and retention of this faculty, as with all members of the University community, the institution, consistent with its academic heritage, maintains an openness to all qualified persons.